As summer slowly approaches it is time to start thinking about using all those locally grown vegetables. I love to have a cool salad on a hot day, full of veggies. It is a little early here in Minnesota to get the homegrown stuff but the grocery store produce works almost as well.
For this salad I had:
Toss together and enjoy!!
Lately we have been grilling a bunch of chicken breasts on Sunday, to take for lunch during the week. There were a couple left and needed to be used up so to dress it up I added some sauteed mushrooms and peppers. On the side were some boiled potatoes topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and butter. A very tasty meal!
There are a ton of gadgets out there for cooking eggs. Microwave cookers, special pans, electric cookers, etc….. but you do not need any of these. You just need a pan, lid and some water!
Put eggs in pan and cover with cold water. You can add 1 tsp of vinegar to help prevent the eggs from cracking. I do that sometimes but if I am too lazy to walk to the pantry I omit this.
Bring to boil and boil for 1 minute. Cover, remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. That is it! You will now have perfect hard boiled eggs. Enjoy!
We have all been to a fair or a Renaissance festival and had a giant smoked turkey leg. Well you don’t have to wait for the next one to come to town, you can make these bad boys yourself! I picked a couple fresh turkey legs up at the meat market and smoked them. These were tasty!
Season the legs up, I used olive oil, salt and pepper. Next time I think I will create a brine and soak them overnight. I think that will add more flavor. 
Get your grill going and get the temperature to 225 degrees. I used hickory pellets for these on the traeger. Smoke for 3-4 hours, depending on the size of the leg. These were about 1 pound a piece and took 3 hours. Grill to a temp of 165 in the thickest part of the meat and you are ready to go. Enjoy!
Being wheat/grain free does not have to be boring, there are plenty of ways to have tasty food that is good for you. Last night we had grilled salmon with a side of grilled veggies. Simple and delicious! 
For the veggies I used a yellow squash, zucchini, tomato, mushrooms and an onion. Take 2 sheets of heavy duty foil and sprinkle with olive oil.
Slice up the veggies and pile on the foil. Drizzle more olive oil over the top and season with salt and pepper. I also used Mediterranean seasoning for extra flavor.
Seal the foil tightly around the veggies and you are ready to grill. These take about 25 minutes over medium heat (350 degrees on the Traeger).
Prepare the salmon fillets. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle lemon juice over the fillets and time to grill. Good thing about this meal both the salmon and veggies take about 25 minutes on the grill. 
Carefully remove the veggies from the foil. There will be a lot of steam so don’t burn yourself! Serve salmon with slices of lemon on the side for drizzling. Enjoy!
Here is a simple way to prepare cauliflower and it is oh so good. Lay out a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil ( large enough to completely wrap around the head of cauliflower) place one head of cauliflower, stem and leaves removed) on top. Pour 1/4 cup of melted butter over the cauliflower. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Now sprinkle 1/4 – 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top. Wrap up in the foil and roast in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Unwrap and enjoy! This will be the best cauliflower you’ve ever had.
Since going wheat free there are a few things I really miss. Tacos are one of those foods. So we came up with this idea – instead of taco shells we will wrap them in lettuce! Iceberg worked well for this, just use a couple pieces, layer the goodies on top and eat like a taco.
To go along with the beef I added red pepper, orange pepper, onion and jalapeno. Kris did not want beef so I made one batch with burger the other ground turkey.
Add everything to a pan and saute until veggies are tender and meat is cooked through. For spices I added – 2-3 T ancho chile powder, 1 t cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder and about 1/2 t oregano. 
Pile meat on the lettuce and top with cheese, salsa and sour cream. Enjoy!
Ingredients:(for each pound of burger)
Directions:
Saute meat, peppers and onion in a pan over medium heat. Add spices and cook through.
Looking for an easy, tasty soup? Then Ribollita is for you. Normally this calls for some frozen spinach but since I did not have any on hand I left it out and the soup was still excellent. 
Add some olive oil (2-3 T) to a heavy pan, add chopped pancetta and onion. Saute for a few minutes, until pancetta starts to render and the onions begin to soften.
Add chopped carrots (2-3) and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Now you can add the remaining ingredients, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Serve in big soup bowls, sprinkle with some fresh shaved Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2-3 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
4 ounces pancetta, chopped
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 (15-ounce) can cannelloni beans, drained
1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
3 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 (3-inch) piece Parmesan rind
Directions:
Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, pancetta, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onion is golden brown and the pancetta is crisp, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Add the spinach, beans, herbs, stock, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
With winter still hanging around ( 10 inches of snow the other day) grilling has been put off for a bit. Kris and I picked up some fresh cod fillets so decided to bake them up. Super easy, light and very tasty!
First melt about 3 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the juice from half a lemon. Coat the cod fillets with the mixture and place in a glass baking dish. In another bowl, stir together the almond coating. I used almond flour, white pepper, salt, paprika and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Sprinkle and press onto the fillets. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. We served the fillets over a bed of mixed greens. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and stir in the lemon juice. Dredge fillets in lemon butter mixture and place in glass baking dish. Stir together dry ingredients. Press into fillets and bake for 15-20 minutes, fish shold flake easily with a fork.
Since going wheat free over a year ago, I have been looking for a good gluten free, grain free bread and found this one on a Paleo blog. I tweaked it just a bit and it is really good. I think it works best when toasted. This bread has a nice nutty flavor and is easy to make.
First you will pulse all the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Next add the liquid ingredients and pulse some more.
Pour into a greased 7 1/2 x 3 1/2 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took about 35 minutes.
Cool completely, slice, serve and enjoy!!!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
¼ cup golden flaxmeal
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
5 eggs
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Place almond flour, coconut flour, flax, salt and baking soda in a food processor. Pulse ingredients together. Add in eggs, oil, honey and vinegar and pulse again.
Pour batter into a greased 7.5 x 3.5 magic line loaf pan and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Cool and enjoy!
